envying and then not
by dorcas
Summary: Ino's jealous of all the other couples. But whadaya know somebody else's alone. ShXIno. No matter what everybody says, i think they're cute together.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Okay, I'll admit it. I don't own Naruto; this dude named Masashi Kishimoto or whatever his name is, I forget things like long detailed names, does. Damn long-named dude...

Yeah, I know it's a weird couple but first of all I think it would work out, second of all anybody compatible w/ her is already taken and he really doesn't have any relationships at all. Besides, she goes for Sasuke, the silent type, and this dude doesn't talk. Match.

CHAPPIE UNO: ENVYING

She shouldn't really be jealous. In fact, everyone else should be jealous of her, or so she thought to reason with herself. _I mean, come on: I'm definetly the hottest of all the girls, I'm agressive, I know how do do things and how to get my way... who wouldn't look up to me? _Ino thought, sticking her chin out with her arms crossed. She sat on a bench in one of Konoha's parks, in her favorite field of flowers, (A/N: Oooh, i just made alliteration! i could use this in English...) watching them sway in the breeze with the long grass. This was where she came to think in times of trouble. Well, technecally this wasn't big trouble, but it counted as a troubling matter.

A month ago she'd woken up, went to the market, and thought she was still in the nightmere that had kept her screaming for hours on end. Everywhere, they were everywhere... holding eachother's waists, pecking eachother's cheeks, "accidentally" giving eachother hickeys. And smiling. They were all happy and didn't worry about the world. It could blow itself up for all they cared. I _could blow myself up for all they care, _she thought bitterly.

She spat in the grass. There was Neji and Tenten, her following him around and him not minding with the ghost of a smile. Naruto and Hinata, her clinging to his arm and burying her face in his arm whenever he announced themselves to the world. Shikamaru and Temari walking hand in hand with her leading him and his exhasperated but flushed face around. The grown-ups had even gotten active: Asuma and Kurenai finally admitted to eachother what the entire nation had already printed in the world-wide newspapers, Iruka had been spotted sneeking out of Anko's apartment early one morning, and for some reason Kakashi was "secretly" meeting Shizune every other night (a/n: sorry i could'nt think of anyone for him! Ayame the ramen lady seems too much like a fangirl.).

But the worst by far was when the news spread to her that her archrival/best friend was going out with Konoha's resident hottie. Apparently Sasuke had finally said, "Hn, why the hell not?" and that was that. No one thought that it would last a week, but it turned out that Sasuke actually (insert gasping here) responded to Sakura's love... in the form of her pregnancy. Now the Hokage declared that Sasuke was obliged to take care of the baby and Sakura because his honor was at stake, and for another reason no one knew yet.Ino had sent good luck cards and had went to the baby shower along with all the girls and most of the boys, but had left as soon as Sasuke put his arm around Sakura's waist and kissed the forhead that had once been cursed (the curse, it was rumered, had been uplifted upon Sasuke's sacred lips coming in contact with it).

So now here she sat, in the middle of a field of flowers, about to bawl her brains out but too stubborn to admit to herself what was true: no one wanted her. No one liked her, no one cared for her. And there was no one for her to love. Okay, now she was already bawling her brains out. Face in arms, rubbing her nose on her hands and wiping the snot on the underside of the bench, she cried.

Mother Earth must have sensed her mood and sent some clouds to accompany her. The rain wept along with her, merging with her tears and almost drowning out her sobs. The drops landed on the thirsty flowers, oblivious of the soul unfolding before them.

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Shino was minding his own buisiness, (as if he had any) just walking along the trail and listening to the conversations of the insects around him. He was just taking in the fact that an innocent fly was about to have it's brains sucked out by a spider when an unfamilier sound reached his ears. Was that... crying? He picked up his lazy pace toward the sound; it was only just up the trail.

Sure enough, through the rain and his shaded glasses was the figure of a woman crouched on a bench, whimpering. He couldn't tell who it was though, damn shades. In any case, he resolved to see what was up. After all, he had nothing better to do. Wait, was that Ino? What the hell? _Damn it, _he cursed his bad luck, _what now? Well, I guess... _

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Ino's sobs prevented her from hearing the soft footsteps approaching. Thus she was completely taken by surprise when a set of arms circled around her neck. "What the fuck!" She jerked her head upward--

--and smacked the back of her head against someone else's forhead. Hearing an "Oof", and letting out one of her own, she rocked herself forward and onto her feet, got into a fighting stance, and then dropped her mouth open. "S-Shino!" she shreiked.

The boy in question winced slightly, preoccupied by rubbing his forhead. However, he did manage a grunt in response.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!"

"..."

"You'd better have a good excuse!"

"..."

"Answer me!"

"..."

She let out a huff and caught her breath. This guy would definetly not answer to yells; he wanted to discuss things rationally, and somewhat calmly. _Screw that, _she seethed, _this guys got another thing coming! _She regained her composure to some measure, drew herself up to full height, and stated, "You must be a mental case." Then she turned and began to walk, intending to get as far away as possible.

She didn't get three steps before his mouth opened. "At least I wasn't the one wiping snot on public property." She whirled around and glared.

A split second and she was inches away from his face. "Any word of this gets out," Ino hissed, "and Konoha will never find your remains." Then she stomped away onto the trail, calling over her shoulder, "And this never happend!"

He shook his head. What had he gotten himself into? He couldn't remember one time when he had came in contact with another human in a semi-affectionate way, let alone a female. A deep sense of regret was already surging through his brain, and he could feel the blood rush to his face. His bugs stirred, sensing his discomfort. He brought his hand up to his face, pushed his shades up, and trodded down the trail again. He just needed some sleep. Oh, fuck it all.

_A/N: Since the six fics I could find about this couple are all one-shots, I'm begging for reviews and an answer: should I make another chapter to see what happens? I could expand on what's happening with the other couples, y'know. You decide, but I kinda like this plot._


	2. at the ramen place

**Disclaimer: **I told ya before, didn't I? That long-named dude owns Naruto, not me!

Hmm...I keep thinking that if I could own Naruto I would make some awesome changes...sure, get rid of a couple unnecessary people, plots, some people that died get to stay... but then again, that would suck. I'm just now realizing that if the thrill of thinking some way that opposes the maker were gone, then the whole point of fanfiction would be ruined! O 0 O So thank God I don't own Naruto!

CHAPPIE DOS: AT THE RAMEN PLACE

"Hnnng..."

Ino's blond hair floating back and forth in front of her mouth was the only sign that she was alive. Her sheets, which surprisingly were light blue, were curled around her legs and covered one third of her upper torso. She lay on her belly, arms embracing her pillow, and turned her head slowly as possible to see what time it was. At first, she was too groggy to see the numbers on her alarm clock clearly. Then she tossed her hair out of the way and turned around to go back to sleep. _Oh, it's olny 1:30, _she reasoned, and snuggled deeper into her pillow.

Something must've clicked, because suddenly her eyes flew open, she flung her body up, and screamed, "OH MY GOD IT'S ONE-THIRTY!" She scrambled off the bed, then promptly fell flat on the floor as a result of the sheets tangling their way up to her thighs. Flinging them off, she got up and bounded to the bathroom. _Uck, I really don't have time for a shower, _she lamented even as she turned the water on and jumped in, screeching at the cold.

After barely five minutes of scraping her scalp with shampoo, she stumbled out of the bathroom and let her towel fall. Just as she was about to pull on her underwear she caught sight of her open window. Immedietly it was closed. _Hey, Naruto's been hanging around that perverted Jiraiya waaaay too much for my liking, _were her thoughts while warily continuing to pull everything on. _I wouldn't be surprised if a couple recent panty raids were his doing! _

As soon as she had done her make-up (because preps will melt if they don't have make-up) she zoomed out of her apartment building and to the training grounds Asuma had claimed for his team, but when she got there it was empty.

Ino growled. Then her stomach growled. She realized she hadn't had time for breakfast, which she'd started to eat again after news of Sakura's success, and she hadn't packed a lunch. There was only one thing left to do: eat out somewhere. But where? She wandered the marketplace, muttering to herself as she passed clothing stores. "Mm...that is _so _last season...hey, what's this? Ooh, I so need that! What! $200! For _that! _That's sick. Ah, some earings would do something to frame my face...but I already have some on, and I don't feel like getting a double piercing today." Something caught her eye. "What the--?"

"Hey! Ino-chan!"

Naruto waved to her from his stand at the counter of the ramen place. Except this time (wonder of wonders) he wasn't alone: sitting next to him were Hinata on his right and Lee on his left. On Hinata's right were Neji and Tenten, Shikamaru and Temari, and Chouji. On Lee's left were Gaara, (yes Gaara they must've dragged him there) Kiba, and... Shino. Ino fought down a blush, glared at Shino, and hoped that God would be graceful and spare her the embarrassment of having to sit with them.

Of course, Naruto, being the innocent and oblivious block head that he is, was heedless of her discomfort and continued waving until Ino gave him a small smile to aknowledge him. "Come on, Ino, come and sit with us!"

The smile evaporated. "Uh, no, I don't think I will."

"Puh-leeeeeeeeease? We wanna talk to you!" Naruto never was one for giving up.

"Why? I'm not even hungry." It was very convenient for her belly to give off a particularly loud rumble at that exact moment. She cursed it to hell.

"Right." He grinned. "Pull up a chair."

Ino sighed, then stole a stool from a random couple's table and began dragging it up to the counter. She stopped. Where Chouji was sitting on the far right was the last seat unless she wanted to stand, so that left the seats to Naruto's left. Crap. Shino was at the very end, and there was no way in _hell _she was going to face him after what happened the night before. But... there weren't any other seats, and she didn't feel like fighting today. "Well?", said Naruto.

Cursing her bad luck and grumbling about getting back at him someday all the way, she dragged her stool next to Shino's and plopped herself on it. Ayame popped up in front of her with a notepad and pencil. "What would you like?", she said, way to cheerily.

"Just plain old ramen," grunted Ino, face in her hands.

Ayame's smile wavered. "O-okay. Coming right...up." Then she tried to get out of there as fast as possible.

"Geez, Ino, way to go. I think that's an all-time-record for scaring innocent people for life," Kiba grinned at her.

"Shuddup." The tone in her voice sent Akamaru whimpering and Kiba scooched a little over to Gaara, who narrowed his eyes at him. Ino didn't care. She was in a _really _bad mood and didn't feel like talking. Too bad for her.

"Ino," she heard a voice say, and squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to ignore it.

"Ino," it said again, and this time it seemed to seep through the cracks in her fingers to get to her ears. She grunted to aknowledge him.

"Whadaya want?" _This is the part where you say, "Nothing", _she silently begged.

No such wish. "I just want to know what's up."

"Nothing is... up," she said, eager for him to be his normal, quiet self. "Nothing but the ceiling, anyway."

"Funny." He didn't sound humoured. "Now tell me, really."

Ayame pushed a bowl of ramen into Ino's forearm. She glanced up and ate with one hand, the other occupied with holding up her head facing away from Shino. She picked up a few noodles in her chopsticks and pretended to study them closely. Apparently Ayame had taken, 'just plain old ramen' to be meant literally. She thought she saw a speck of mold.

"Ino," he said suddenly, "this isn't about last night, is it? It's not that big of a deal--"

"YES IT IS!" Ino slammed her chopsticks down on the counter, stood up, and pointed at him. "AND YOU PROMISED NOT TO TALK OF THAT!"

"I promised nothing," he said calmly, "you're the one who's drawing attention to it."

All too suddenly she realized what she was doing. Everybody was staring at her, boring into her, gawking at her. And she just stood there with her arm pointed at Shino, the blood rushing to her face, totally aware that she was looking like a complete idiot, and that Shino was looking pretty damn cool and collected. Damn him, why couldn't _he _slip up instead of her? _Better him than me, bastard._

Five whole seconds passed. Then, all at once Ino picked up her bowl of ramen, aimed, and threw it at Shino's face, screaming, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU ASSHOLE!" Shino, of course, barely dodged it just in time, which would have angered Ino further had she still been there. But as soon as she'd flung the bowl she'd escaped out of the ramen place, not looking back to see everyone but Shino chase her to the door and call after her. She didn't care. Okay, so she did, but she sure as hell wasn't planning on showing her face in public for at least six months.

And poor Shino was just sitting there, ditched and very thouroughly confused.

_A/N: I'm making this up as I go along, can you tell? Sorry, but I'm working on a different Naruto parody that's gonna be multi-chaptered too, and another one that doesn't have anything to do with Naruto. So, bye, and tell me if you think I should keep going! _

_ShinoXIno 4eva!_


	3. not so comforting bff's

**Disclaimer: **Mm-mm, nope, sorry, I don't own Naruto. Now if you'll excuse me I've gotta go make sure Sasuke doesn't insult Leo's katana again... last time he ended up with a concussion. ;; On a brighter note, Lee's getting his butt kicked by Mikey on the gamecube.

CHAPTER 3: NOT-SO-COMFORTING BEST FRIENDS

INO'S POV:

_Slam! _I shut the door behind me and leaned on it, panting not because I was tired but because I was still so embarrassed. What was the matter with me? Why couldn't I just face him like normal?It should be nothing! I was Ino, the one who shouldn't have any trouble at all especially when it came to the male species. I brought a hand up to my face and felt that I was hot. Maybe I had a fever... a fever yeah that's right...I mean I was sitting in the middle of a rainstorm yesterday right I mean how could you not get at least a cold it's totally reasonable... aw who am I kidding there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. But, then again, _why couldn't I face Shino?! _

EVERYBODY ELSE

Everybody else skidded to a stop in front of the huge Yamanaka estate (it's huge 'cause I think Ino is a spoiled prep OK) and started forward but suddenly Tenten flung her arms to the side to prevent anyone from going any further. "Stop!" she shouted impulsivly.

"WTF?" said everybody. Neji continued, "What's going on Tenten?"

"Nothing! It's just..." Tenten hesitated. "Well, I want to make sure she's okay. I think it's better if only the girls talk to her."

Pause. Everybody nodded and expressed their acception of the idea. Hinata and Temari walked up to the welcoming mat (which, ironically, was shaped like a pig) next to Tenten and prepared to knock on the door.

"Aww," complained Naruto loudly, "But I wanna see what's up too!"

"Hehehe come here Naruto old buddy!" chuckled Kiba holding Naruto in a headlock. As soon as they were facing the opposite direction of the girls he hissed in his ear, "Naruto-baka trust me you don't want to get into this. I mean it's...it's...!"

"--youthful female business," finished a very serious Lee. Naruto's eyes widened.

W/ INO

I'd let myself flop to the floor with my back against the door hugging my knees, shutting out the world, when my meditation of what had just occured was interrupted by voices outside...annoying voices that sounded like all the people I had just attempted to ditch. "Go away!" I shouted, but it came out like a croak and made me slap my hand against my mouth.

"No way Ino!" came the muffled voice of Tenten. She sounded peeved. "Let us in or we'll get in our own way!"

"P-please Ino-san..." said Hinata, her voice even more hard to notice through the door. "We j-just want to help."

"I don't need your help!"

"Ino, you asked for this," came a threatening voice I reconized as Temari's. "Now I'm gonna ask nicely one more time, and if you say no or if you don't say anything at all I'm breaking the door down."

"I-it's for your own g-good."

"NO!!" I screamed. "If you break the door down, YOU'RE fixing it!!"

"I DON'T CARE!!!"

BOOM!!

Luckily I had enough sense to duck out of the way of my door and roll to the right of the doorway. Temari stood in place of my door, leg outstretched for dramatic effect and looking highly po'd, almost as much as I was feeling right then. Tenten was right behind her with her arms crossed, and I could tell that she was annoyed with me and with Temari for her brash nature and my indigance. Hinata was, well, being Hinata, with her hands brought up to her lips and her face displaying her standard worried look.

Temari grinned and brought her leg down after about five seconds. "Hiya Ino-chan! Sooo..." She crouched down to my level. "Care to explain why you ran out on us at Ichiraku's?"

"Yeah," said Tenten, "and what's the deal with you and Shino?"

"Nothing!" I assured them not as confidently as I would have liked. "He's just a world-class jerk is all."

"P-please don't say that about Shino-san," said Hinata. "He may be quiet, but he really is nice. He is my teamate after all, so I would know him better than all of you."

I raised an eyebrow, hatching an idea. Maybe she could tell me why he was acting weird! "Tell me, does Shino just come up to people randomly and hug them from behind?"

She looked shocked. The others mirrored her expression. "N-no, of course not! He would never do that to somebody!"

"Mm-hm," agreed Tenten. "Too reclusive."

"Bug-boy gots some issues," commented Temari. Then she turned to me with her eyebrows arched. "Wait a minute, are you actually saying that he really did that? To YOU??"

Reluctantly I nodded, which triggered the return of shocked looks. I became indigant. "What? It's not like I flirted with him or anything! Or like I _wanted_ him to!"

"Did you?" said Tenten, who was busy getting the door upright and nailing it back in with a hammer she produced out of nowhere. I'd thought she only hid weapons down there..."I dunno Ino, lately you've been seeming kinda down."

"He might've thought you were desparate," added Temari helpfully. "Easy prey."

"Well so is Hinata, but you don't see Naruto or Kiba trying to make out with her." Instantly I regretted saying that. The said Byakugan user blushed and looked away, and I could tell she was beginning to regret going to the ramen shop in the first place. "Aw, Hina-chan..."

"Shuddup," snapped Temari. "That was over the line."

"N-no, it's okay." Hinata was playing with her fingers again and attempting to smile. "She's right, after all..."

The guilt was too much. Silence was seeping into the room like a stink bomb in a bus: overpowering. "Sorry Hinata, I guess I'm kinda being weird right now." I had to find a way to make it up to them. "Um, you guys wanna help me make cookies?"

Everyone brightened and instantaneously whipped their heads around to Hinata, who, still getting over her initial blush, had no time to recover and thus blushed her signature SUPA-BLUSH. By now, everyone but Naruto knows about Hinata's special Valentine's Day cookies, which she makes not only every Valentines Day by the dozens with her recources, but any time she feels like you're looking out of it and need cheering up. They're famous among the Konoha Eleven for bringing the most stoic arrogant prick (cough Neji cough) to his knees. When I had my bullimic phase, I was coaxed into eating soley for the promise of half a dozen after a balanced meal. Temari grew the most attatched; upon her first taste, she'd begun bawling, with actual TEARS, and declared Hinata a saint. A culinary saint and genious. Hinata fidgeted. "A-alright, I'll make my V-Valentines cookies...but only for Ino's bad d-day!"

"YATTA!!!" burst Temari. "This time I'm gonna find out what that secret ingrediet of yours is! Count on it!"

Hinata nearly smirked. (But Hinata Hyuuga does not smirk, as she lacks a single grain of ill will, so we must settle with an all-too-innocent smile.)

Twenty minutes and a food-fight later, we were all licking our wounds (or rather, trying to get at the sugary stuff on our elbows) and they were too happy to persecute me (and to catch sight of Hinata slipping crushed herbs genjutsu-fied to look like sprinkles in the dough). Which was all right, as long as the topic didn't come up again.

--------------------

Shino, however, was far from content. There was absolutely no logical explanation for why he had done that to Ino, unless... had the mating season finally gotten to him? In the Aburame clan, there were sometimes cases of the male beetles affecting the mood of a male member, and even horomones. Shino had never thought it would happen

to him, judging his own character and morals to be too stable for that kind of nonsense, but hadn't his Tou-san mentioned once that these things were indiscriminate (sp?)?

The same sort of thing happened with the Inuzuka clan, he was sure. During that season, his teamate had been acting very peculiar around Hinata, normally slit pupils dialating and fingers twitching. Shino had noticed his breathing change also. Akamaru seemed to have nothing to do with this, but that was understandable because he was just a puppy and that sort of thing would come in the next year. Kurenai-sensei had also sensed the change in Kiba and in a subtle way put distance between him and Hinata by pairing him up with Shino individually for sparring more often. After the season was over they resumed training as before, Kiba's glances toward Hinata now chagrined. Sheepish was too mild a word for it; he looked downright ashamed. Thankfully Hinata remained blissfully unaware of the whole thing, probably because she was so innocent in anything involving relationships.

If he was right, then it must have been simply instinct and he just needed to excersise something he'd always taken for granted: his self-control. It just meant that he needed to become even more detached from the world than before.

He was still at Ichiraku's. He hadn't bothered to follow everyone else as his presence would only lead to an interrogation, an event which would sooner or later require speech, which would require the use of his jaw muscles, and that made him sore. He glanced up at the man the stand was named after and was met with a cold and annoyed expression quickly forced back for manners' sake. "Sumimasen," said Ichiraku, scrubbing away at a ladle nervously, "But loiters are not welcome here." He looked down at his ladle to escape the awkward-ness. Shino nodded and began to turn around slowly on his seat, but stopped cold when he caught sight of the person least expected to come here.

Sabaku no Gaara was slumped over the counter of the ramen stand, and he was slurping nearly as quickly as Naruto.

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Temari belched. Tenten shot her a disapproving look. "Whoops."

"Whoops, and what?"

"'Whoops' and hey, it's a complement in my country."

Hinata looked over from where she was picking up unused napkins. "Really? In the Kaze country? W-well thank you v-very much." She bowed to hide the color in her cheeks; she couldn't stand to be complemented. Composed, she put a free finger to her mouth. "How very strange. But it would be a very bad thing if we went on a mission some day to your country, Temari-nee-san, and people thought us rude. Oh no!" She gasped. "What if something I have said is impolite in your country? How would I know?" Thus, Hinata went on another fuss fest right where she stood. Sakura began to pick up the remaining napkins in her stead. She'd gotten here about ten minutes after the break-in, because Naruto hadn't wasted any time to share the latest news of Konoha.

And that left me to my own dark emo thoughts. Well, all right, I'm not emo, that would be Gaara and Sasuke-kun's department. Instantly my mood darkens. Sasuke-kun...

I spy from the corner of my eye Sakura Haruno, and suddenly feel posessed by an emotion akin to Scorn, but not quite Envy. For simplicity's sake, let's go ahead and dub it Spite. I commence it in my mind, the...what's the right word for it? Bitching. That's it. _She must think she's so great, with that pink hair of hers and her-- her-- um... feet! Yes, that pompous foot girl. With elbows. It's not called an elbow anyway; everybody knows those are weenises. And who told her she got to have a bigger forehead than everybody else, huh? What, normal-sized foreheads aren't good enough for ya, eh? Eh?_

Wait.

"..."

Ino cannot be jealous of Sakura's forehead. Why?

Because it's MADNESS!

The next few minutes are spent clutching my head and rocking back and forth in the corner while shooing off a concerned Hinata. I tell ya. These are strange days. I wanna watch Toy Story. Haha.

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"Why are you here, anyway?"

Yes, it was true. Shino Aburame was willingly speaking without prodding from team members. The incessant stoic-ness built up all those years was finally crumbling, along with his dignity. And for some reason, Gaara was cooperating. It must be in the ramen.

"-slurp- Well, I'm off duty."

Shino raised an eyebrow. "But... you are the Kazekage. Shouldn't you be in your own village, even if you are off duty?"

"I guess so." Gaara motioned for more ramen. Ichiraku complied disbelievingly. Was this fetish for ramen some sort of Jinchuuriki thing? Ayame scrubbed the pots hurredly and piled ready bowls high. If this dude was anything like Naruto... She shuddered and hoped this guy wasn't here to stay for long.

"I wasn't aware that Kages were even allowed to take breaks."

"They aren't.-slurp-" Gaara was enjoying his ramen. Why hadn't anyone informed him of this stuff? All the wasted years (and yen)!

There was a breif pause. Normally Shino would have absolutely no need to fill in silence with polite conversation, but this was the kazekage of his village's ally, even if he wasn't acting like it. He glanced at the tomato-topped former maniac: with the perfect posture and straightest face anyone could possably hold while eating, Subaku no Gaara guzzled down the remaining broth with unheard of gusto. And no noise. That was the strangest thing about it. His -slurp-'s weren't audible, they were simply gulps--again, with no sound attached.

Speech, Shino, manners. Say something.

"I've hugged a girl I hardly know from behind in a somewhat creepy fassion," blurted Shino in a very un-Shino-like manner. Sure, why not start with the recent events?

Gaara blinked. He looked up from his ramen and into Shino's souless shades briefly. "Good for you." Then he focused on the important item in life.

Behind the shades, Shino rolled his eyes in frustration. "I don't know how to put it behind."

"I'm not the best person to ask about love troubles."

"This isn't something like that." He pulled up the gawdy trenchcoat collar to hide the twin dabs of pink on his cheeks.

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt."

"But--"

"Look," Gaara sighed, standing slowly and having to stop momentarily to catch his balance. Maybe there was such thing as too much of a good thing. "I'm a busy person, even off duty." _Temari-nee-chan hasn't quit blabbing about some girl named Hinata and her soon-to-be-famous cookies. Hmm..._ And in that moment, Rokudaime Kazekage of Sunagakure hatched a brilliant beyond brilliant ideo of how to make things convenient. He turned to Shino. "I help you out with this fling--"

"It's not--"

"--and you show me the way to a person I need to meet."

The look in his eyes was slightly frightening, but not in a psychotic mass murderer kind of way, Shino decided. He took a moment to stand (have you ever tried to stand up with a sprained dignity?) . "Deal," he grunted.

Gaara nearly smiled. (But Gaara doesn't smile, as he lacks a single grain of pure kawaii-ness, so we must settle for a creepy smirk.)

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_A/N: I started this chapter about three months ago and NOW i post it. Kinda sad. And the quality isn't that good either. I would like to say that I made up for it with quantity, but I'd be lying, and that goes against my policy, so... um, the best I can offer is an apoligy. -cringes in absolute defeat- Don't clobber me!_


	4. big fat turning point

**Disclaimer: **Me no own.

Sorry everyone! Commitment issues. And then I was reading this amazing and enlightening Invader Zim story about Gaz by the title of "Platonic Life". This is a recommendation, so that it will get reviews and that Sideos will feel more compelled to write and post, thus making me feel better. Even though no matter how many reviews I get (what am I saying? I've only gotten 16!) I shall never stop being distracted. On asskident, me pwomith. Updates? Ha! Good luck. Wow I sound mean.

CHAPPIE FOUR

"Ino-san."

"..."

"Ino-san, are you going t-to be alright?"

From my claimed territory of the floor of _my _apartment, I withdrew my face from my Piglet pollow and regarded Hinata. "You're not going already, are you?"

She smiled nervously. "Ah-- g-gomen ne, but Otou-sama isn't feeling well lately. I need to go and, um, h-help." Funny, she doesn't look like she wants to leave.

"Hina-chan, let somebody else handle it." I thought I caught a flash of indigance there... nah. It's Hinata. "But if you really wanna go, it's not like I'll stop you." She looks better at that. Not the doormat anymore, is she? I'm glad for her. Whoo.

And it's here that the phone rang. Tenten skipped over (still hyped up from the cookies) and with a flaunty air snatched it up, immediately going into a twirling session. I hope she'll thank me later for affording a cordless phone. "Hello?" she sang, eerie-cheery. Suddenly she halted mid-spin and straightened up. "Sasuke?"

From the kitchen, the resident pink-haired kunoichi poked her head out, revealing puffed cheeks and crumb-coated lips. "Eh?"

"Y-yeah, she's right here." Tenten now had the attention of all other four occupants. Everything in her body language suggested worry. Hurredly she shoved the phone into Sakura's hands, who covered the mouth piece. Tenten gave a warning before taking a respectful few steps away. "He sounds...weird. Something's up." Specific, that's her. Even Hinata hovers near the door, not willing to go just yet. I guess she'll feel guilty if she leaves at a tense time.

Warily, Sakura holds up the phone to her ear. "Ano...konnichi wa, Sasuke-kun!" She offered cheerfully. Normalcy was what she's hoping for. The expected pang of jealously wasn't at my throat, surprisingly enough.

Probably because I didn't have time for envy. In the next few seconds, Sakura began to droop, nodding half-heartedly and occasionally giving a mumble or an uh-huh. The other side wasn't loud enough to be heard, of course. But I had a feeling I didn't want to hear this. By the time she lay the phone back in it's rightful bet, Sakura was wilted.

Temari, taking advantage of Sakura's distraction, snarfed down the rest of her stolen cookies and tried to look as worried as everyone else. This guy was just a former crush from a different village; anything that happened to him wouldn't affect her. "So, wassa matter?"

A sigh, a shift of the weight, and Sakura answered; "Tsunade-sama is allowing him an assassination mission."

"So? He's a shinobi, Sakura, and so are we. He needs to be prepared to die come any mission. Excluding weeds."

"Well you never know; that poison stuff you spray cuz the client insists? Pretty strong, y'know."

"It's not that." She wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. "His request of no other teammates was approved also. It's a solo mission. And," here was the big part, ooh, apprehension everybody, "the assignment is... Itachi Uchiha."

"His brother?" yelped Temari. Reeled in at last. "I didn't even know he had a brother. He can't kill his own brother, Tsunade wouldn't approve of it!" I sat back and cradled my chin. It's my own thinking position; makes me feel cool like Shikamaru. Sofistakatedd and all that. Of course Temari would be upset about this; she's not an only child. This situation would be unthinkable to her.

Tenten tried to explain. "Temari, didn't you hear his first name? Itachi."

Temari quit ranting. "Itachi? ...Akatsuki?" A pause. "I was _wondering _if that dude had a last name."

Time for my BFF role. I dusted off my thights and stood. I strode over to Haruno Sakura, dropped my hand on her shoulder and said, "Go to him, Sakura. Go to him and do what must be done."

-...-

No, I'm kidding. I didn't say that; I was still in my little emo corner. What I really did was snarf my own cookies while taking keen interest in the conversation, even though it was melodramatic as any gossip I'd spread before. Hinata moved away from the door a bit, unsure if it would be appropriate to leave in a hard time for a "friend".

"When is he leaving?" I asked. Hey, I happen to not be fond of silence, and no one else seems to cope with it nicely.

Sakura opened her mouth slightly. "Ah-" But she was interrupted.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Unsurprisingly, it was the orange blur that barreled through my door. That was the second time it had been annihilated today, and it was starting to tick me off. but I didn't get to voice my indigance. I was being ignored in my own apartment. The sheer nerve of them!

"Naruto-ku--" Hinata began. She was cut off.

"Sakura-chan, we have to hurry!" shouted Naruto, which shouldn't be unusual except this shouting wasn't in the right tone, the usual shouting tone. It caught my attention immediately.

"You mean you heard about Sas--?"

"Hai! I was there! Tsunade-baa-chan said if we hurry we can go with him as back up, but he's going right now! Come on!" So many exclaimations make my head pound. Hold it, Sasuke was going _now?_ Prick. Sakura was already out the door, Naruto moving to shut it with a sweeping motion that makes me get my wincing muscles ready.

"Naruto-kun," said Hinata, halting him softly. "M-maybe I c-could help?"

Naruto fidgeted, almost as if he were irritated. To be wasting precious time. Aren't they supposed to be together? "It kinda doesn't have much to do with you; it's best if you stay behind," said Naruto finally. Temari stiffened. She was a bit protective of Hinata; the quality of her product depended heavily on the quality of the producer's mood.

Hinata's horrendous posture returned; breifly she sluped over, then struggled to straighten up so she could face the one who was supposed to be her lover according to every reliable gossip, source, and appearance in public. Naruto looked still uncomfortable with the situation, unsure of what to say, so he simply chose to clame his mouth shut and slam the door on the trembling Hyuuga. Right in her face.

There was a silence left in the apartment. What could we do? Tenten stood near the kitchen, busying herself with the wiping of the counters while stealing glances toward Hinata. Subtly she glared at Temari and I and mouthed to us to do something.

Temari responded by nervously standing and padding over to Hinata, who had her back turned to her, still staring at the door. The Suna-nin looked determind but in unfamiliar territory, inexperienced in the field of comforting. Tenuously she lifted her hand to the height of Hinata's shoulder, but before she could touch it Hinata put her hand on the doorknob in a way made to send the message that touch was uncalled for.

"If you'll excuse me," said the pale girl quietly, almost coldly if you listened right, "I need to get home now. I hope you get well, Ino-san."

"Oi!" said Temari on a whim. "You don't have to--" She reached for Hinata's arm this time, searching for a good grip to pull her back in, but Hinata raised a hand to block her bluntly and easily, because a long-distance fighter like Temari moved clumsily compared to her, and used the other to make a series of hand signs. A puff of smoke was what Temari attempted to trip next. "Dammit!" She hissed.

It was only us three in my apartment. Soon to be two. "Feel free to raid the fridge," I muttered while brushing crumbs of my thighs. I stood and made my way to the door. Sure I could trust 'em. They're both older than me, right? (not in the head)

"Why, there are you going?" Temari and Tenten demanded in sinc, while I swiped a jacket from the closet in case it was a cold night. Hinata wouldn't need one; she never under any conditions took hers off willingly.

"Isn't it obvious?" I had one foot out the door, jacket draped over one arm. "Gimme twenty minutes and I'll have her back here."

With that, I gently closed the door.

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Two boys strode side by side along a road. Well, maybe "strode" is too strong a word. Both had a supreme distaste for making scenes. All right then: Two boys walked side by side. Nice, simple verb. Ahem.

Shino was showing Gaara the way to the Hyuuga domain, as was promised at Ichiraku. Gaara had said he would like to meet the Hyuuga heiress famous soley for her cooking skills, secondary only to her knack for concocting up new healing salves. More precisely, he'd decided that as long as keeping relations with Konoha's individual clan leaders smooth was a priority, he might as well judge some sweets for himself while he was at it. Shino had only obliged because of his position and because he said he knew wat was wrong with Ino and how to deal with it (although how he'd gained the necessary experiance for such knoledge was completely beyond Shino).

The redhead's earlier befuddling mannerisms at the stand had dissipated. He fixed his stare stonily ahead, but closer inspection revealed a--dare I type it--twinkle in his eyes and tugging of the lips. This looke, the happy look, just didn't suit the sharp, narrow face of Gaara, and it bothered Shino to no end. That was all the more reason to focus on the mundane, uneventful path to the Hyuuga compound. Luckey they were so nearby at the start.

But before Shino could stop Gaara at the gate to warn him of manners, he sensed a familiar chakra coming their way. Gaara must have sensed it also, because in the next moment he was poised on a tree branch high above and a dour stare made Shino follow suit. The level the off-duty Kazekage had picked was high enough to be discreet, but low enough to see through the leaves and hear the people below.

That would be moi, and of course Hinata. Had I been able to spot the two spies I would have seen Gaara's eye gleam maliciously.

--------------------09-----------------------

_A/N: Wow I suck. I'm sorry! To anyone desperate enough to read this putty. I shall be gone for the next two weeks, but since you were able to go for like, what, three months without an update without slitting your own throats I'm guessing you'll be more than fine. Go! Indulge in all things morbid!_


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